Computational Complexity and other fun stuff in math and computer science from Lance Fortnow and Bill Gasarch

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Lance-Food Diet

As my long time readers know, I enjoy a good Francesinha
as much as the next guy, but around the time of FCRC last June I
realized I was simply getting too fat and had to do something about
it. I would never last eating only so-called "healthy" food
so I tried a different approach still eating the foods I love and I
dropped forty pounds reaching my goal weight in November.

I should write a little pamphlet and sell it for $39.99 but for you
readers I reveal my secrets for free.

I went cold turkey on sweets. No brownies, no cakes, not even any
non-fat frozen yogurt. Seminars and conferences offer us too many
opportunities to partake of empty calories so best to have a hard and
fast rule.

Smaller portion sizes: One slice of pizza instead of two. A single
hamburger instead of a double. Also fewer side dishes like fries.

I cut out between meal snacks even if they don't seem too bad like
pretzels. Do not eat when you aren't hungry.

Avoid at all costs those evil green things commonly known as
"vegetables." You'll never survive if you force yourself to
eat stuff you don't like.

I have been running three times a week, but this is no more than I
did before the diet began.

Once I reached goal weight, I had another challenge—How to avoid
losing too much weight without bouncing back up. I use the scale like
a thermostat, eat less when I weigh more, and eat more when I weigh
less, including the occasional ice cream.

There are many ways to lose weight, and if you want it enough, it's really not that hard in the short term. But keeping the weight off is very hard -- please post again in 3 years about whether you kept your weight down. Also, one could take as a goal becoming healthy, living a healthier life style, but that is not the same as losing weight. For example see the following link.